You might be surprised to learn that installing water-filled tubes into those systems is a rather typical practice given how much pricey gear PC makers pack into their systems. Water is unquestionably the enemy of electronics. Even though it might seem strange at first, there’s actually a very excellent rationale behind it.
A computer’s smooth operation is fundamentally a game of controlling heat. Performance improves as temperature decreases. Liquid coolers, as the name implies, use water instead of air to transfer heat away from the CPU through pumps, as do more “conventional” coolers.
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Custom Liquid Cooling Lifespan
Overall, how well you maintain a custom setup will determine how long it will last. For more than ten years, one of my friends has used a custom loop in his system without experiencing any significant problems. As long when you’re ready to swap out parts as they wear out, custom solutions can essentially last forever.
AIO Liquid Cooler Lifespan
An AIO, on the other hand, is an all-in-one solution, as the name implies. It has fans, a radiator, a sealed liquid loop, and a pump. They not only require substantially less maintenance than custom configurations due to the fact that fewer parts need to be installed during installation, but they also make installation more simpler overall.
A closed loop means that there is no need to open, drain, and clean off the tubing itself, leaving the radiator as the primary point of concern. You may (and should) still periodically clean off an AIO. However, this more hands-off, low-maintenance method to liquid cooling has a price.
Although disassembling and servicing an AIO is technically possible, it is not recommended. It’s likely that you won’t notice a fluid leak until it’s too late if something goes wrong. Even if the loop is essentially closed, air will eventually find its way in, reducing performance and increasing wear and tear.
It’s also crucial to remember that the radiator must to be either higher than or level with the pump. Placing the radiator at the bottom reduces the loop cycle, which forces the pump to spin more quickly in order to make up for it and hastens the pump’s demise.
A decent quality AIO should survive between three and five years on average, however because to the aforementioned factors, it is advised to just replace the entire unit when it has reached the end of its useful life.
How Long Will A Liquid Cooler Last You?
In conclusion, which of the two types you choose to utilize will greatly affect how long liquid cooling solutions last. While custom solutions often have a longer lifespan than an AIO, this durability is primarily due to their capacity to replace individual parts and the ongoing care they need. If you’re trying to choose between the two, think about how much time (and how frequently) you want to spend maintaining them.
Custom Cooling vs AIOs
Custom tubing is the more challenging of the two because it needs the user to put the loop together entirely, including installing the pump and reservoir and bending the tubes into shape. Although not the subject of this article, the assembling procedure is something to consider when deciding between the two.
Even leaving that aside, the two have some quite significant differences: Custom tubing is a “open system,” which means that each component may be removed and cleaned or changed separately. An AIO is an exception to this. Although they can technically be taken apart and put back together, they aren’t actually meant to be, and putting fragile electronics near water isn’t the best idea.